ABSTRACT

Residues of organochlorines (OCs) and heavy metals in pinnipeds from different parts of the globe published in the literature have been the subject of recent extensive reviews (Wagemann and Muir et al., 1999; Borrell and Reijnders, 1999; O’Shea, 1999). Assessment of general time trends in concentrations of those compounds in tissues of pinnipeds may appear theoretically possible. However, a further examination of the quality and the quantity of the available data reveals that this is a complex matter. The basic problem is that the levels found in pinnipeds are a reflection of the fate of the compound in the environment, culminating in exposure and then followed by the toxicokinetics in the animal. The biological factors affecting variability of pollutants in cetaceans, although these also hold for pinnipeds, have been elegantly described in detail elsewhere (Aguilar et al., 1999); this will therefore not be discussed in this chapter.